Valentine Strange needs money, and the pay is too good. But when Master Aleister Grimshaw, a dangerous witch from a traitorous lineage, joins the expedition for the diadem of Purya, Strange begins to suspect that more is at stake. Grimshaw knows an ancient evil surrounds the diadem - the same evil once hunted him. Harried by curses, bandits and unnatural creatures, Strange and Grimshaw plunge onward. But when a demonic power wakes, their tenuous friendship is threatened as each man must face the destruction of the life he has known.

Hoarfrost: Whyborne & Griffin, Book 6

Sorcerer Percival Endicott Whyborne and his husband, Griffin Flaherty, have enjoyed an unprecedented stretch of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, the calm is shattered by the arrival of a package from Griffin's brother, Jack, who has uncovered a strange artifact while digging for gold in Alaska. The discovery of a previously unknown civilization could revive the career of their friend, Dr. Christine Putnam, or it might kill them all if the hints of dark sorcery surrounding the find are true.

The Mating of Michael

Everyone admires Michael Lamont for being a nurse, but his part-time work as a gay sex surrogate not only raises eyebrows, it's cost him relationships. Michael is small, beautiful, and dedicated to working with people who need him. But what he really wants is a love of his own. He spends most of his time reading science fiction, especially books written by his favorite author and long-time crush, the mysteriously reclusive J.C. Guise.

Stranger on the Shore

Twenty years ago little Brian Arlington was kidnapped from his family's Long Island estate and was never seen again. The trail went cold, but investigative journalist Griff Hadley has always thought there was more to the story - much more. When the Arlingtons' patriarch invites him to stay at their estate to research his true crime book, Griff can't say no. It's the story of a lifetime. But not everyone is happy about Griff's presence. Relatives and staff alike regard him coldly, including Pierce Mather, the Arlingtons' attractive lawyer.

This Rough Magic: A Shot in the Dark

Wealthy playboy Brett Sheridan thinks he knows the score when he hires tough guy private eye Neil Patrick Rafferty to find a priceless stolen folio of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Brett's convinced his partner-in-crime sister is behind the theft - a theft that's liable to bring more scandal to their eccentric family, and cost Brett his marriage to society heiress Juliet Lennox. What Brett doesn't count on is the instant and powerful attraction that flares between him and Rafferty.

Knight of Ocean Avenue

How can you be 25 and not know you're gay? Billy Ballew runs from that question. A high school dropout, barely able to read until he taught himself, Billy's life is driven by his need to help support his parents as a construction worker, put his sisters through college, coach his Little League team, and not think about being a three-time loser in the engagement department. Then, in preparation for his sister's big wedding, Billy meets Shaz - alias Chase Phillips - a rising-star celebrity stylist who defines the word gay.

The Boy with the Painful Tattoo: Holmes & Moriarity, Book 3

It's moving day at Chez Holmes. Somehow, against Kit's better instincts, he and J.X. are setting up house together. But while J.X. is off at a writing conference, Kit unpacks a crate that should contain either old books or new china. It doesn't. Within the mounds of Styrofoam popcorn is a dead body. A very dead body. There goes the neighborhood.

The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks

His romantic weekend in ruins, shy 20-something artist Perry Foster learns that things can always get worse when he returns home from San Francisco to find a dead body in his bathtub. A dead body in a very ugly sportscoat - and matching socks. The dead man is a stranger to Perry, but that's not much of a comfort; how did a strange dead man get in a locked flat at the isolated Alton Estate in the wilds of the 'Northeast Kingdom' of Vermont? Perry turns to help from 'tall, dark and hostile' former navy SEAL Nick Reno.

Come Unto These Yellow Sands

Lover of fine poetry and lousy choose-your-own-adventure novels, Professor Sebastian Swift was once the bad-boy darling of the literati. The only lines he does these days are Browning, Frost, and Cummings. Even his relationship with the hot, handsome Wolfe Neck Police chief, Max Prescott, is healthy. When one of his most talented students comes to him bruised and begging for help, Swift hands over the keys to his Orson Island cabin - only to find out that the boy's father is dead and the police are suspicious.

The Haunted Heart: Winter: The Haunted Heart (Book 1)

Still grieving over the sudden death of his lover, antiques dealer Flynn Ambrose moves to the old, ramshackle house on Pitch Pine Lane to catalog and sell the large inventory of arcane and oddball items that once filled his late uncle's mysterious museum. But not all the items are that easy to catalog. Or get rid of... Since Alan died, Flynn isn't eating, isn't sleeping, and isn't spending a lot of time looking in mirrors. But maybe he should pay a little more attention - because something in that 18th Century mirror is looking at him.

Death of a Pirate King: Adrien English Mystery Series, Book 4

Gay bookseller and reluctant amateur sleuth Adrien English's writing career is suddenly taking off. His first novel, Murder Will Out, has been optioned by notorious Hollywood actor Paul Kane. But when murder makes an appearance at a dinner party, who should be called in but Adrien's former lover, handsome closeted detective Jake Riordan, now a Lieutenant with LAPD - which may just drive Adrien's new boyfriend, sexy UCLA professor Guy Snowden, to commit a murder of his own!

The Dickens with Love

Three years ago, a scandal cost antiquarian "book hunter" James Winter everything that mattered to him: his job, his lover and his self-respect. But now the rich and unscrupulous Mr. Stephanopoulos has a proposition. A previously unpublished Christmas book by Charles Dickens has turned up in the hands of an English chemistry professor by the name of Sedgwick Crisparkle. Mr. S. wants that book at any price, and he needs James to get it for him. There's just one catch. James can't tell the nutty professor who the buyer is.

The Dark Tide: Adrien English Mysteries, Book 5

When a half-century old skeleton tumbles out of the wall in the midst of the renovation of Cloak and Dagger Bookstore renovation, Adrien turns to hot and handsome ex-lover Jake Riordan -- now out-of-the closet and working as a private detective. Jake is only too happy to have reason to stay in close contact with Adrien, but there are more surprises in Adrien's past than either one of them expects -- and one of them may prove hazardous to Jake's own heart.

Camp Hell: PsyCop, Book 5

Victor Bayne honed his dubious psychic skills at one of the first psych training facilities in the country, Heliotrope Station, otherwise known as Camp Hell to the psychics who've been guests behind its razorwire fence.

Mummy Dearest: The XOXO Files, Book 1

The truth is out there. Way, way, way out there! Drew Lawson is racing against the clock. He's got a twenty-four-hour window to authenticate the mummy of Princess Merneith. If he's not at his boyfriend's garden party when that window closes, it'll be the final nail in their relationship coffin. The last thing he needs traipsing on the final shred of his patience is brash, handsome reality show host Fraser Fortune, who's scheduled to film a documentary about the mummy's Halloween curse.

The Hell You Say: The Adrien English Mysteries, Book 3

The third novel in the Adrien English series finds the "ill-starred and bookish" mystery writer and bookseller battling demons - maybe literally. After bookstore clerk Angus flees following terrifying death threats, Adrien must contend with a mysterious Satanic cult, a hot and handsome university professor, and his on-again/off-again relationship with closeted LAPD Homicide Detective Jake Riordan. And oh yes, murder...

Fair Game

A crippling knee injury forced Elliot Mills to trade in his FBI badge for dusty chalkboards and bored college students. Now a history professor at Puget Sound university, the former agent has put his old life behind him, but it seems his old life isn't finished with him.

A Ghost of a Chance

Over a century ago Illusionist David Berkeley committed suicide in his mansion by the sea, thus dooming his restless spirit to wander forever. Or so the local legend goes. Professor Rhys Davies, a part-time parapsychologist, is writing a book on California hauntings and he believes the crumbling ruins of Berkeley House will make a terrific chapter -- if he can gain access to the house and grounds. The only obstacle is brooding cop and self-appointed caretaker, Sam Devlin.

Don't Look Back

He was chuckling, a deep, sexy sound as he pushed Peter back on the satiny cushions. Was this for real? Was he going to go through with it? Peter blinked up as his tie was unfastened, tossed aside, his shirt unbuttoned, laid wide. The evening breeze - scented of smog and jasmine - felt cool against his overheated skin, like the lightest breath.

All She Wrote: Holmes and Moriarity, Book 2

A murderous fall down icy stairs is nearly the death of Anna Hitchcock, the much-beloved "American Agatha Christie" and Christopher Holmes' former mentor. Anna's plea for him to host her annual winter writing retreat touches all Kit's sore spots - traveling, teaching writing classes, and separation from his new lover, J.X. Moriarity. For J.X., Kit's cancellation of yet another romantic weekend is the death knell of a relationship that has been limping along for months. But that's just as well, right?

The Way Things Are

A night of drunken confusion at 19 resulted in Patrick Connelly fathering a child. Determined to be there for his son, Patrick walked away from a sport he loved and forever hid his sexuality. After Patrick's brutal divorce and a vicious hate crime, his son, Jay, has become obsessed with graffiti. Patrick moves Jay to Seattle. Within two weeks, Jay is arrested again. Thinking things can't get any worse, he's confronted by the sexiest man he's ever seen - his son's new probation officer, Ken Atkins.

A Dangerous Thing: An Adrien English Mystery, Book 2

Suffering from writer's block and frustrated with his tentative relationship with hot but closeted LAPD Homicide Detective Jake Riordan, gay bookseller and mystery writer Adrien English travels to northern California where he finds a body in his front drive. By the time the sheriffs arrive the body has disappeared, and Adrien once again finds himself playing amateur sleuth. But when the game turns deadly, Adrien turns to Jake. Jake may be confused about some things, but keeping his lover alive is not one of them - no matter what the cost.

The Darkling Thrush

Fed up with his desk duty in the Imperial Arcane Library, book hunter Colin Bliss accepts a private commission to find The Sword's Shadow, a legendary and dangerous witches' grimoire. But to find the book, Colin must travel to the remote Western Isles and solve a centuries' old murder.

Out of the Blue

France, 1916. The Great War. High above the carnage in the trenches, British and German aces joust like knights of old for control of the skies. The strain and tension of living every day on the edge of death leads to dangerous choices and wild risks. When British ace Bat Bryant's past catches up with him, he strikes out in panic and kills the man threatening him with exposure. But there's a witness: the big, handsome American pilot Cowboy Cooper.

Kick Start: Dangerous Ground, Book 5

Will is finally braced to bring Taylor home to meet the folks. Unfortunately, not every member of the Brandt clan loves Taylor the way Will does. Then again, not everyone loves the Brandts. In fact, someone has a score to settle - and too bad for any former DS agents who get in the way when the bullets start to fly.

Publisher's Summary

Valentine Strange, late of his Majesty's 21st Benhali Lancers, needs money. Happily, the wealthy Holy Orders of Harappu are desperate to retrieve the diadem of the Goddess Purya from an ancient temple deep in the mountainous jungle-an area Strange knows well from his days quelling rebellions. The pay is too good and the job seems too easy for Strange to refuse. But when Master Aleister Grimshaw, a dangerous witch from a traitorous lineage, joins the expedition, Strange begins to suspect that more is at stake than the retrieval of a mere relic.

Grimshaw knows an ancient evil surrounds the diadem - the same evil once hunted him and still haunts his mind. However, experience has taught him to keep his suspicions to himself or risk being denounced as a madman. Again.

Harried by curses, bandits and unnatural creatures, Strange and Grimshaw plunge onward. But when a demonic power wakes and the civilized world descends into revolution, their tenuous friendship is threatened as each man must face the destruction of the life he has known.

What made the experience of listening to Strange Fortune the most enjoyable?

I love the book, and David Lazarus' narration is perfect! It has a certain cadence that really fits in well with this fantasy story, the adventure, the quest, the characters. I felt like someone was really telling me a story, and not just narrating the book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Aleister Grimshaw for complexity, and Valentine Strange for optimism :-)

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene where they stop for a swim is one of my favorites, very sweet. Then there are some funny scenes, which make me smile every time i remember them, there's a long scene which made me appreciate Strange's character, and there's a particularly suspenseful one towards the end of the book.

If you could take any character from Strange Fortune out to dinner, who would it be and why?

I think my disappointment with this book is primarily due to the fact that this is not really a MM romance book. It is a MM fantasy/adventure book and the MCs happen to be gay and bi. Mr. Lanyon's books are usually great relationship books with a great mystery woven into the background. In this book, the relationship is ancillary at best, just adding an interesting layer in the story. Maybe it is just the opening book to a series, I'm not sure, but he definitely does not focus on the relationship. That is not to say it is not a good story, it is, just not what I was looking for. The story is loosely based on colonialized India under English rule. It has witches, demigods, crazy monks, etc. I enjoyed the story and the writing is beautiful as always. The narrator was excellent. I just like my MM romance with a lot more romance.

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